The University of Otago has hired a San Francisco-based architectural company to develop concept drawings for a new aquarium.
This comes after the university decided in June to demolish an aquarium building in Portobello after it was found to meet less than 15% of the new-building standard for earthquake strength.
Otago university head of marine science Prof Gary Wilson said the decision to engage the "world class" architectural company EHDD to come up with designs was a "really positive move".
However, despite the decision to hire EHDD it was still "too early" to be certain that a new aquarium would be built, he said.
"All I can say from a head of department's perspective is that access to the facilities we no longer have is an integral part of our programme.
"The challenge is to get the plan right and go through the process to make it happen We are really in the very early stages," he said.
This meant it was yet to be decided if an aquarium should be built at a new location or at the existing site.
"The discussions with ... [the two architects at EHDD will be] about how the different elements fit together and what's required and that has to happen before one makes a decision about the viability of sites."
Prof Wilson said EHDD was highly respected in the field of aquarium design: "They build world-class aquariums, no question ... they know how to make them work in terms of life support systems and all the bits that are critical for teaching and research as well as public research."
A spokeswoman for EHDD said: "Our expertise lies in creating academic teaching environments, and we have a commitment to sustainability and re-use. This project brings together what we are very good at and what we believe in.
"From a technical standpoint, any aquarium which uses raw sea water is attractive to us."
The decision to demolish the aquarium building was made at the end of June but no demolition date had been set as the facility was still used to store fish.
The more modern marine laboratory building and New Zealand Marine Studies Centre will remain open.
